Tomb Raider The Movie

Sooner or later it was bound to happen. After unrivalled success in the land of computer and console gaming, Lara Croft - the star of the Tomb Raider series - is about to hit Hollywood. Somewhat unimaginatively entitled 'Tomb Raider' thus far, a live-action picture based on the hugely popular games is said to be on the fast track at Paramount Pictures. At present, director Stephen Herek (Holy Man) is finalising a deal to develop the project, which the studio is aiming for release in Summer 2000. The project's conception came a year ago when Paramount won a bidding war for global film rights to British company Eidos Interactive's best-selling games Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider II. Anchoring around a high six-figure deal, the pitch included ancillary and merchandising components, as well as the intended simultaneous release of a new companion game. In the run up to development, a host of scribes penned adapted versions of the game - at one point two writers were working independently on entirely different versions - but when screenwriter Steven de Souza submitted his draft, Paramount conceded and the project was deemed ready for a director to be brought on board. Looking at Herek's feature credits, it's not difficult to see why he was pegged as the man for the job, his titles already including The Mighty Ducks, Mr. Holland's Opus and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. De Souza himself is no newcomer to game adaptation for the big screen, having written and directed 1994's Street Fighter.